Olmert Rejects Calls for Cease-Fire in Lebanon

Israeli military action "will not destroy Hezbollah," Hagel said, but it is "tearing Lebanon apart, killing innocent civilians, destroying its economy and infrastructure, creating a humanitarian disaster, further weakening Lebanon's fragile democratic government, strengthening popular Muslim and Arab support for Hezbollah, and deepening hatred of Israel across the Middle East."

The senator said Bush should appoint "a statesman of global stature, experience and ability to serve as his personal envoy to the region," and he suggested that either James A. Baker III or Colin L. Powell, both former secretaries of state, could fill this role.

While Rice spoke of an "emerging consensus," she did not indicate whether Israel or Hezbollah would agree to the terms being considered for the cease-fire resolution. European diplomats say she will faces some potentially bruising negotiations this week, when she is expected to go to New York to participate in Security Council discussions.

France and other Security Council members have urged an immediate and unconditional cease-fire, with arrangements worked out later to stabilize it. The United States wants the whole package at one time.

Rice said she hopes they can sponsor a joint resolution, as the two nations have in the recent past. She told reporters on her plane she planned to "push very hard" to win passage on a cease-fire by week's end. "It's time," she said.

The United States will move for a resolution centered on three parts. The first is a cease-fire. The second is a set of political principles or framework for a long-term settlement to ensure that the flashpoints are eliminated so that fighting does not erupt in the weeks, months or years ahead, Rice said. The third will outline the sensitive mandate for the new "international stabilization force," which will back up the Lebanese army as it spreads government authority throughout Lebanon, prevents the import of any new weapons to rearm Hezbollah, and keeps the peace.

The emerging consensus includes agreement on several points, Rice said. All armed groups would be prohibited in the zone where the international force is deployed. An international arms embargo, she said, must ensure that the only weapons allowed into Lebanon must be for the Lebanese government or the stabilization force.

No foreign troops except the stabilization force would be allowed in Lebanon. The Lebanese government and army would assume responsibility for disarming militias, with the "appropriate" assistance by the stabilization force, Rice said. Israel and Lebanon would fully accept the border as defined by the so-called Blue Line -- a potentially contentious issue that involves the disputed Shebaa Farms area.

On the airplane this morning, Rice indicated that Israel has already agreed to an arrangement that could end longstanding tensions with Lebanon over the Shebaa Farms territory.

Rice said the stabilization force would provide humanitarian assistance, aid the return of people who fled the fighting and help the Lebanese Army move to and police the border, Rice said.

The force, expected to be at least 10,000 troops, will be charged with helping to establish a "stable and secure" environment, especially in the battered south that has long been Hezbollah's stronghold. This provision would be central to the implementation of U.N. resolution 1559 and the 1989 Taif Accord that eventually ended the 15-year civil war.

"I believe our work has prepared the way for the United Nations Security Council to act on both an urgent and comprehensive basis this week," Rice said in her brief statement.

"These are important, yet temporary measures," Rice said. "An urgent and more permanent end to this violence is something that we all want, and that we must work together to achieve."

Assembling units of a stabilization force would be complicated. Several countries have indicated they might take part, and State Department Counselor Philip Zelikow has been working on the issue in Brussels and France over the past five days, U.S. officials say. France is leading candidate to command the force.

But the mere act of deploying troops, equipment, weapons, and vehicles will take significant time, military analysts said.

The skies over Israel and Lebanon remained relatively quiet for several hours after Rice departed for Washington this morning.

But Israel's ground campaign continued in a clutch of Lebanese towns north of the Israeli village of Metulla. Three Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded near Taiba when an armored troop carrier was struck by a missile. A tank that arrived to help them was also fired upon.

Within hours, Israeli aircraft had fired missiles into the area, and Israel Radio said the first Hezbollah rocket attacks of the day had struck the Israeli town of Kiryat Shemona, along the same section of the border as Taiba.

Wright reported from Shannon, Ireland. Branigin reported from Washington. Staff writer Debbi Wilgoren contributed from Washington.